Don Mahoney enters his third season on the University of Cincinnati football staff as the offensive line coach.

Offensively in 2011, UC averaged 385 yards per game, ranking No. 2 in the BIG EAST in rushing offense (178.5 ypg) and scored an average of 33.3 points per game on the way to a BIG EAST Conference Championship and a win in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl over SEC foe Vanderbilt.

Alex Hoffman (second team) and Randy Martinez (first team) were All-BIG EAST selections and they helped lead a unit that paved the way for Isaiah Pead, a 1,000-yard rusher for the second straight season, the first time a UC team has achieved that feat in 25 years. Center Evan Davis was selected to play in the 2012 Casino Del Sol College All-Star Game.

In his first year in Clifton in 2010, Mahoney mentored an offensive line unit that paved the way for a 1,000-yard rusher and receiver for only the third time in school history. It was UC's first 1,000-yard rusher in almost a decade.

Mahoney coached Second-Team All-BIG EAST Conference selection Jason Kelce, who made a successful transition from guard to center early in the season. Kelce went out to be selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2011 NFL Draft and started 18 games at center as a rookie.

Mahoney came to UC in Jan. 2010 after serving three years in the same role at Central Michigan University.

The CMU offense was third in the Mid-American Conference in 2009, averaging just under 170 rushing yards per game (167.6). The Chippewas were second in the league in total offense (423.1), and led the MAC in scoring offense (33.9). CMU allowed an average of 1.21 sacks per game, a mark that ranked second in the MAC in 21st in the NCAA FBS. Redshirt freshman left tackle Jake Olson earned freshman all-America honorable mention accolades from CollegeFootballNews.com in 2009.

Mahoney coached a pair of all-Mid-American Conference performers in each of his three seasons in Mount Pleasant. Allen Ollenburger was a First-Team all-MAC selection in 2009 while center Colin Miller earned second team honors. Andrew Hartline (first team) and Greg Wojt (third team) were all-conference selections in 2008, while Hartline (second team) and Eric Tunney (third team) were recognized in 2007.

Hartline and Wojt are both plaing professionally. Hartline signed with Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2009, while Wojt is with the Edmonton Eskimos after being selected by the club in the 2008 Canadian Football League Draft.

As a unit, the CMU offensive line allowed just 1.57 sacks per game in 2007, the third fewest in the MAC. CMU tied for first in the MAC with an average of just one sack allowed in seven conference games. The Chippewas posted a stretch of four straight games without a sack allowed midway through the season and allowed one sack or fewer in five of the final six regular season games.

Mahoney has had at least one of his linemen earn academic all-district honors seven times in the last nine years. Hartline was an Academic All-MAC honoree in both 2007 and 2008.

"Don is a stickler for attention to detail and teaching of the offensive line," head coach Butch Jones said. "His energy and passion rubs off on everyone in our program. His knowledge of offensive line play and teaching ability are second to none."

Mahoney spent the 1999-2006 seasons coaching the offensive line at Tulane University after six previous seasons as an assistant at CMU. Mahoney served two years as a graduate assistant and four years as a fulltime assistant, working with tight ends and the offensive line, from 1993-98 at CMU.

At Tulane, Mahoney mentored offensive lines that led the way for the top rusher and all-purpose yardage gainer, the top passer, and the top scorer in school history. The 2006 line featured a trio of All-Conference USA honorable mention selections as well as a Conference USA All-Freshman team honoree. He was also part of a coaching staff that guided the Green Wave to a victory in the 2002 Hawaii Bowl.

Mahoney was an all-conference selection and three-year starter at guard for Marshall University, serving as team captain as a senior in 1990. He was a student assistant at Marshall when the Thundering Herd claimed the 1992 Division I-AA national championship and a graduate assistant at CMU in 1994 when the Chippewas won the MAC title and played in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Mahoney earned his bachelor's degree from West Virginia State in 1993. Mahoney and his wife, Carissa, have three children: Jacob (12), Tulia (9) and Domenic (6).